The article's comparison to the 19th century railroad boom is pretty spot on for how big it all feels, but maybe not so much for what actually happened.

Back then, the money poured into building real stuff like actual railroads and factories and making tangible products.

That kind of investment really grew the value of companies and was more about creating actual economic value than just making shareholders rich super fast.

While some of the investment in railroads (and canals before it, and shipping before that) was going into physical assets of economic value, there were widespread instances of speculation, land "rights" fraud, and straight up fraud without any economic value added.

> Back then, the money poured into building real stuff

Its limitations are well-documented, but cutting-edge AI right now is very much "real stuff."

You have no idea what you are talking about.

The amount speculation and fraud from this time period would make even the biggest shit coin fraud blush.

Try a biography of Jay Gould if you want more information.